12 Investment Charts For 2022
It's that time of year again. Time for drinking a bit too much. Time for last minute, panic shopping. Time for wheeling out phrases like "Where did the year go?".
To help take in what has been a truly remarkable year (in investment terms, I think we can genuinely say that!) and to display my sheer adoration of a good chart, I've tried to gather the top 12 charts I've posted this year on investment topics to tell the story of 2022.
(Watch this space, as I will try and post my favorite non-investment charts in a forthcoming post....)
2021 really was a stellar year, as was 2020. Despite the fact equity markets have fallen YTD, we started 2022 from a position of strength....
Original post - 22/12/2021?here, ok this one isn't quite 2022 but it's important context for the year!
But despite equity strength and rising inflation, initially bond yields were stubbornly stuck at the lower levels we'd been used to in the last few years...
Original post 10/01/2022?here
And all of this was before the tragic outbreak of armed conflict on Europe's borders. History would suggest armed conflict usually doesn't matter for stock markets but with already high inflation would this time be different?
Original post 24/02/2022?here
But it wasn't long until the inflation data deteriorated further, sending yields higher and bonds lower. Many bond indices posted their largest drawdowns on record and multi asset portfolios faced the nightmare environment of bonds and equities falling at the same time!
Original post 23/03/2022?here
And the drawdown took some of the high profile "darlings" of the lockdown period with it. The chart below looks at the mammoth ARKK ETF versus the S&P and the potential diversification properties (or not) of using Crypto. Those extoling the virtues of crypto as an inflation hedge have definitely been left scratching their heads this year!
Initial post 13/05/2022?here
Buy the dip investors seemed to have taken a bit of a break by the middle of the year and history suggests that could be a rational thing for tech investors. The tech crash of the early 2000's took over a decade for some indices to recover - a far cry from the speedy recovery of 2020!
Original post 22/07/2022?here
There weren't many places to hide and even "traditional" inflation hedging assets such as gold joined bonds and equities by hitting "bear market" territory of losses in excess of 20%!
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Original post 21/09/2022?here
Just when you thought there was enough to contend with, UK investors faced the shock of a not so mini, mini budget from Kwasi. This shocked UK yields to their highest level versus US counterparts to the highest level in 10 years!
Original post 26/09/2022?here
The volatility in gilt markets was quite something, with gilts more volatile than crypto at times! This sent shockwaves through the pension system and many LDI funds came close to breaking point before the Bank of England stepped in to provide calm...
Original post 17/10/2022?here
The problems facing central banks were not trivial though and UK inflation remained stubborn at over five times the official target of 2%.....
Original post 26/11/2022?here
Closer to home (pun intended) for the finances of many, higher interest rates and the volatility caused by the budget caused the interest rates on fixed rate mortgages to spike significantly through 6%! For context that took as back to the pre crisis peak in interest rates, albeit you can look at history and see that maybe the luxury of the last 5-10 years was the anomoly, rather than where rates ended up.....
Original post 29/11/2022?here
And in a year of invasions, inflation, LDI failure, crypto blow ups and a tech crash, Credit Suisse joined the list of worry for investors, as many took a poor view of the strategic plans for the bank's future, amidst a wave of scandal!
Original post 30/11/2022?here
Wow.... Even writing some of that felt like therapy for what has been a busy year! For me charts are a great way to bring everything together and put some context around all that's happened!
Who knows what 2023 will bring. However, no doubt there will be charts to help us look through the noise in whatever comes our way.....
Have a great xmas and new year!
Matthew Yeates, December 2022
The views in this piece are absolutely my own and absolutely nothing to do with my employer. I fully accept the of risk being hung, drawn and quartered if I don't remind you that all investments have "Capital at risk". Charts/ data are purely for illustration purposes only.
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